Foundation Center Releases its Philanthropy Annual: 2008 Review — Highlights of News and Issues That Shaped the Year

NEW YORK, N.Y., March 25, 2009 — The Foundation Center has just released "Philanthropy Annual: 2008 Review," the second edition of its yearly compendium highlighting the news, issues, people, organizations, and giving trends shaping the field of philanthropy.

The new edition "serves as a permanent record of the ups and downs we've faced together in 2008 and the efforts of so many people to strive for something better," says Bradford K. Smith, the Center's president, in the Annual's introduction. "Further, it's a manifestation of the Foundation Center's ongoing commitment to our founding principles of accountability and transparency in philanthropy, which are as important now as they ever were."

The Annual provides a full overview of organized philanthropy, illustrating its important role in society and its national and global impact. Contents are drawn in part from "Philanthropy News Digest," the Center's daily online news service, as well as selected research findings in the annual "Foundations Today Series" and other Center sources.

Highlights include:

- topical issues covered in the mainstream and philanthropic press during 2008, including the impact of the economic downturn on the philanthropic sector

ABOUT THE FOUNDATION CENTER
Established in 1956 and today supported by close to 600 foundations, the Foundation Center is the nation's leading authority on philanthropy, connecting nonprofits and the grantmakers supporting them to tools they can use and information they can trust. The Center maintains the most comprehensive database on U.S. grantmakers and their grants -- a robust, accessible knowledge bank for the sector. It also operates research, education, and training programs designed to advance knowledge of philanthropy at every level. Thousands of people visit the Center's web site each day and are served in its five regional library/learning centers and its network of more than 400 funding information centers located in public libraries, community foundations, and educational institutions in every U.S. state and beyond. For more information, please visit foundationcenter.org or call 212-620-4230. http://www.foundationcenter.org